MLB Trade Deadline: Five Players Dodgers Should Have Dealt

This season's trade deadline held no surprises for the Dodgers and General Manager Ned Colletti.

As per usual, the tenacious GM pulled off some big moves in the 11th hour, acquiring best-of-the-remaining starters Ted Lilly, a reliable infielder and everyday starter in Ryan Theriot, a seasoned veteran fireballer in Octavio Dotel, and stability and speed in the outfield with Scott Podsednik.

However, there are still several players on the Dodgers' roster that should have been shipped out in the process.

It is certainly considered a victory when a team can pick up established stars for little more than prospects and cash, but Los Angeles has expendable players to move to make room for the regular starters to have a place on the active 25-man roster.

Here are five players squatting on the Dodgers' roster that should have found new homes.

Then, the Dodgers dealt DeWitt to the Cubs but received Ryan Theriot, which sealed the hatch on any chance Belliard had of seeing significant time at second base.

Coming into the spring, Belliard was competing for a chance at winning the second base job outright, but was unable to prove he deserved it.

There was no clear frontrunner, and manager Joe Torre felt more comfortable penciling in DeWitt into the starting line-up.

Starting Sunday, the Dodgers will have their second baseman, and Belliard is once again expendable.

Jamey Carroll is having a great season as a utility back-up with decent production at the plate. If Belliard goes, Carroll stays. If Carroll goes, the team would settle for Belliard.

The Dodgers simply don't need both, and one of them would be just valuable enough to go along with prospects in a deal for offensive production.

Additionally, the Dodgers re-acquired veteran journeyman Juan Castro for his third tour of duty in Dodger Blue.

The Dodgers now have three non-starting infielders with at least five years of Major League experience each.

Maybe Colletti and Torre are paranoid about losing infielders to injury the way they've lost outfielders and pitchers, but it appears as though playing in the Dodgers infield is like riding a dumb-waiter with Rosie O'Donnell and Rosanne Barr.

3. George Sherrill

Sherrill, like Belliard, was experiencing success with his former team before being shipped to Los Angeles.

The success continued in the back half of the season as the Dodgers marched to the National League Championship Series.

But alas, Sherrill has struggled mightily. A mechanical flaw in his delivery began to play games with his psyche, and Sherrill is so far off-beat, his words are coming a second behind the rest of the choir.

So why is Sherrill still a Dodger? Because no one else wants him either. Sherrill was placed on outright waivers in early July and no team contacted the Dodgers to inquire about his services.

The only possibility the Dodgers had of moving him would have been to include him in a trade to a team that had nothing to lose and needed a situational lefty out of the bullpen.

There is still the possibility the Dodgers could waive him again, and either find a team to send him to while receiving something in return, or letting that team take on the remainder of his contract.

Keep in mind, the deadline that just passed was for non-waiver trades only, not trades altogether.

4. Garret Anderson

The Dodgers now have a total of seven outfielders at the major league level. The list is as follows: Garret Anderson, Reed Johnson, Scott Podsednik, Xavier Paul, Manny Ramirez, Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier.

At this point, most Dodger fans are wondering why Anderson is still around while occupying a spot on the active and 40-man rosters.

Anderson has had a stellar career, but it is becoming increasingly more evident that Anderson isn't worth the grass he's playing on.

His role on the team has been drastically reduced and downsized. He is now used almost exclusively as a left-handed pinch-hitter off the bench, and when pinch-hitters can't hit, they usually aren't long for employment.

Anderson is another veteran having a terrible season. Maybe his inclusion in a trade with the American League would have been good for him, but the only move the Dodgers made with the American League was the acquisition of another outfielder, Scott Podsednik.

Perhaps the Royals could have used Anderson in a designated hitter role, but either the Royals weren't interested, or the Dodgers felt Kansas City had nothing else to offer.

Either way, the situational left-handed pinch hitter that isn't hitting is still a Dodger, for now.

5. Manny Ramirez

Seven outfielders, as mentioned on the previous slide, and only four roster spots available (the Dodgers will most likely carry 13 pitchers for the remainder of the season).

Podsednik's acquisition was the worst of Colletti's fears coming to fruition. The overall health of the Dodgers' aging outfield veterans prompted the GM to acquire the speedy left fielder from the Royals.

Manny is at the center of those worries, currently in his third stint on the disabled list with more hamstring and ankle problems.

Reports on MLB.com and twitter posts from ESPN's Jayson Stark indicated the White Sox had inquired about the aging slugger, but the money offer was insulting as it wasn't significant enough for Colletti to think twice about.

No team wanted to surrender prospects for the 38-year-old either, leaving the Dodgers with a logjam in the outfield, and dilemmas to follow as Reed Johnson recovers from back spasms.

Xavier Paul continues to develop into a multi-tooled big leaguer with versatility and endurance.

It would be a crying shame to send him back to Triple-A Albuquerque, but there is a strong possibility this will occur when Manny and/or Reed Johnson return from the DL.

On the waiver horizon is a possible deal for Manny though. It is very possible the Dodgers can place Manny on waivers and find a deal out of it.

The Dodgers' options for Manny would be finding a team to claim him, working out a trade deal that would likely involve receiving cash from Ramirez's new team, or finding a new team to take on the remainder of his contract.

The new team would almost certainly be in the American League. Manny has expressed to teammates and Dodgers management that he would prefer to play for an American League team to see every day action as a designated hitter while resting his aging legs.

Possible destinations include the Chicago White Sox (although Sox GM Ken Williams can never seem to actually make a trade), the Orioles (having some cap room while unloading Miguel Tejada and Will Ohman), or the Angels (still trying to recover from the loss of Kendry Morales).

Once Manny is healthy, or the Dodgers are near rock bottom, expect the waiver trade talks to heat up once again regarding the Dodgers slugger.